Ireland Student visa Application - Process explained!

At this stage, you should be thinking about your visa application -wondering about when how does entire visa process works? In this post, We have collated all the information in one place. Please reach out if you have any questions or need our assistance with your visa application.

We have collected all of the online information and put it into one page for All Indian Students. Please ensure you still check with your counsellor to ensure you are putting forward a complete & accurate visa application. This is not an official visa document – this is just a collection of information that can be found online put together in one document for your convenience.

Visa Application timeline :

Embassy of Ireland accepts visa applications 120 days before the start date of your course. For course starting in Sep, the Visa application process begins from May 1 every year. It is always advisable to file a visa as early as possible to avoid lengthy visa processing time. Though the Embassy of Ireland's official processing time for visa decision is six weeks, it depends on your visa the time/period of your visa filing.

What is the last date to lodge my visa application?

Please note that the visa office won’t accept visa files if you don’t give them 21 working days before your course start date. Even they might accept visa applications, but they won’t decide on visa application and return your file without any decision.

Ireland Student Visa Documentation Checklist

1. Original Passport. (All previous passports & New). The passport requires validity to cover the course duration, and it should have four continuous blank pages for Visa stamping.
2. Visa fees INR 10000(approx) subject to change from time to time.
3. Photographs (45-50mm in height and 35-38mm in width, a plain white or light grey background, the face takes up 70-80% of the frame and without borders).specs: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/visa-application-photos
4. Marriage certificate of the student & Birth certificate of Children (If applicable)
5. Same person with different name affidavit from student and all the financial sponsors if there is any mismatch in the name. Download sample

Educational documents:

1. 10th certificate
2. 12th certificate
3. All Marksheets list of Diploma /Degree/ Master’s Degree
4. Diploma/Degree /Master’s Degree certificate. (If a student has just finished the degree and has not received the degree certificate, then the student must obtain a provisional degree certificate from the university or college stating clearly class obtained)
5. Other Certificates relevant to your chosen program. (If any)
6. Transcript ( If available though its not mandatory)
7. Internship Certificate (If applicable)
8. IELTS / PTE/ TOEFL/ DUOLINGO Test Certificate
9. Gap Explanation (If you have any academic or experience gap for more than one year, should provide clarification with adequate evidence)
10. Updated Resume – should be signed by the candidate.
11. Previous visa refusal letters (if any )
12. Work Experience letter and all the supporting documents such as
    1. Six months Salary account statement.
    2. Three months salary slips
    3. PF / ESI statement(if any)
    4. Relieving Letter
    5. If you are currently working and have not resigned, then an Appointment letter.

Personal Statement explaining the following points:

1. Self Introduction ( Family, education and experience background)
2. Why this program?
3. Why this Institute?
4. Why Ireland?
5. How is this program beneficial to me? ( Job opportunities, list of companies interested to work, expected salary )

Documents from Institutions

1. Unconditional Offer letter
2. Offer acceptance Letter
3. Offer acceptance fee payment receipt (Swift/Telax/TransferMate)
4. Letter from Institution confirming min 50% fee has been paid along with (Swift/Telax/TransferMate) from Bank.

Please note :

New 50% Tuition fee payment Rule: Visa Office in Delhi has adjusted the student visa application process w.e.f from 2019. it states the following “The Visa Officer will only assess study applications where a student has paid at least €6000 towards their fee if it is under €12000. If less than €6000 has been paid in these cases the visa application will be refused. If the fee is more than €12000 the student must pay at least half of the total fee amount or the visa application will be refused.” Please seeHere should you wish to see this new rule change in full on the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade website (Embassy of Ireland India).

Police Clearance Certificate :

To apply for Ireland student visa, you need to obtain Police Clearance Certificate(PCC).

Please note the process for obtaining Police Clearance Certificate (PCC):

Go to the passport Seva website link below, and take an appointment date and center convenient to you http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/pccOnlineApp

List of Documents Required for PCC Issuance If address is same as it is on Passport:

Passport in original with self-attested photocopy of its first two and last two pages including ECR/Non-ECR page and page of observation (if any).

If your present address different from that in the existing passport: Old passport in original with self-attested photocopy of its first two and last two pages including ECR/Non-ECR page and page of observation (if any) and Proof of Present Address.

Sample PCC: (Download Sample).

Medical Insurance–

Please prefer ODON Insurance Please note there is no medical test for this. All you have to do is – fill it online and make payment. You should be able to get instant copy of Medical Insurance. Sample : (Download Sample)

Documents prepared by us (Mentors Circle Team)

• Visa Cover letter – Letter explaining and covering every detail of documents. We help out a student with this. Sample : (Download Sample)
• Financial Metrics – These is the essential documents which will explain everything about financial required and finance available from the student, we will prepare it for you. Sample : (Download Sample)
• Online visa form which is also called as AVATS form: https://www.visas.inis.gov.ie/AVATS/OnlineHome.aspx
• Student questionnaire form which can be downloaded here: https://www.vfsglobalirelandvisa.com/India/pdf/Supplementary-Student-Application-Form-en.pdf. this form might get changed and we will let you know accordingly.

How much funds do I need to make sure my visa application is approved?

Total fund needed = Tuition Fee + Living Expenses.

You must show evidence that you have immediate access to at least €10,000. This is the estimated cost of living in Ireland for a student for one academic year.

The fund can be shown:

Primary sponsors: Applicant(self), Mother, father, spouse, Mother-in-law, Father-in-law, brother, sister, and grandparents can show funds on the Candidate’s behalf.

Money can be shown in the form of:

• Saving account – The account statement has to be a minimum of six months, and if there are large withdrawals or deposits, you need to put source/explanations for them. Source of the fund if the fund is less than six months matured. Bank manager’s sign & bank seal is mandatory.
• Fixed deposits – You can show fixed deposits that have to be more than six months old. Please note that you have to send the Original fixed deposit receipt and the recent fixed deposit letter. Bank manager’s sign & bank seal is mandatory. (Download Sample)
• Education loan – In recent years, the Embassy of Ireland has objected to a 100% education loan taken by the student, that is, if the student does not show any other funds apart from the 100% education loan. There is no rule that one cannot go for a 100% education loan, but the embassy also wants to see family funding. For example, if you/your family have fixed deposits/PF/EPF/Bonds/LIC or any other investment, you do not want to break that investment. In that case, you can go for a 100% education loan and put all investment-related documents along with the visa application. The Visa Office will not have any problem with that. If money has been disbursed, you need to provide Loan Disbursement Letter (Download Sample).
• Property pledged Educational loan sanction letter- Pledged property should be in the name of the eligible sponsors only. (Maturity is not required). All the supporting documents of collateral security details such as property valuation report from bank and copy of property deed should be submitted along with the loan sanction letter from the bank.
• Public Provident Fund (PPF – Download Sample)/Provident Fund (PF) – if you can’t manage PF Letter, then make sure you have PF statement with seal and signature from your office or respective PF Office(Download Sample) /GPF – along with Statement, you need to provide a letter from the respective office. (Download Sample).
• Additionally, you can show the LIC surrender Certificate (Download Sample), you can also show Mutual funds or Stock Statements (DMAT Account).
• Sale of Property: If the fund is arranged through a property sale, it is mandatory to submit Sale Deed, Copy of Cheques, copy of transactions, copy of EC or receipt from Registrars department etc.
• Please note that Gold loans /Loan against FDs with less than six months maturity/Over Draft /Housing loan/ Chit funds are unacceptable.

Sponsorer’s documents : Photocopy self-signed ( you don't need original documents)

1. Identity card: Passport bio-pages/PAN card/Aadhar Card – which clearly states your relationship with your sponsorer.
2. Sponsorship Letter : (Download Sample)
3. 3 yrs Income tax return for your sponsorer. If ITRs are not available, then Form 16 would work. If your sponsorer is retired then a pension letter would work.
4. Financial documents as explained in point – H.

If your sponsorer is NRI: Please note that you don't need your sponsor to send you original documents as a photocopy would work but make sure all documents are self-signed.

1. Identity card: copy of Passport bio-pages/PAN card/Aadhar Card – which clearly states your relationship with your sponsorer
2. Sponsorship Letter : (Download Sample)
3. Three months salary slips and Employment documents
4. Income-related documents.
5. Visa copy
6. Proof of relationship

What if my visa application is rejected?

First of all, We would like to state that we are very proud of our visa success rate, which is 97%. The Mentors Circle (TMC) has grown exponentially in the last few years. It has quickly established the reputation of being a trustworthy and highly regarded provider of quality students’ to the University sector in Ireland. Indeed the level of engagement to our students is, in our opinion, second to none and is reflected in TMC’s nomination as ‘Agent of the Year 2017’ by Enterprise Ireland.

This has recently been endorsed by Enterprise Ireland (EI), when TMC were one of a small handful of selected agents requested to visit Irish Universities to establish greater engagement and future dialogue with the university sector in Ireland. As you know, this selection by EI would be made in consultation with the Irish Embassy, who would have to recommend selected quality agents based on their reputation, quality of visa file submission and approval rate.

If your visa application is rejected for any reason, we can appeal the visa office decision addressing all the concerns raised by the Visa office. We have been helping students with appeals even though they were not TMC students.